I’m begging you to look past Cicero’s tightly crafted self-image to see a guy who was already among the richest group of people on the planet giving speeches and loudly proclaiming his importance as someone who wasn’t self made.
Not a special fan of Cicero but why would he be across modern ideas of taxation? He did excel in areas that were relevant then: oratory, law, politicking. And we can't tag him a failson given he came from the equestrian order and worked his way up. Fair to say he was immensely gifted, whatever else
May 7, 2025 00:53Another touch HBO/BBC Rome got right, to make him guilty of what his nemesis Antony would call "snivelry"
If Catiline didn't exist Cicero would've invented him.
Cicero was the JD Vance of the late Roman Republic.
I just can't believe how invested people are in these romanticized versions of the past. Or how eager they are to uncritically accept them as fact.
And I'm begging you to engage seriously. Cicero doesn't tightly control his own image today. If your gist is the late Republic wasn't a meritocracy, that's a pretty ordinary claim. But Cicero is not a good example to illustrate that. He really did work his way up a class by being good at what he did
Almost sounds like you’re a Caesar Stan.
Yessssssssss absolutely more hating on Cicero (and the rest of them) imo
If Catiline didn't exist Cicero would've invented him.
